June 2014 Posts:

23 June 2014

Hudson’s Bay Company Operations in Canada, 1914

By 1914, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) business had expanded into the sale of farmland in western townships and the development of retail stores in major urban centres across Canada. This map shows town sites where the HBC owned land, retail stores and fur trade posts.

16 June 2014

As pre-war tensions brewed in Europe, there was much activity here on the home front. In June 1914, Manitoba had begun the construction of its new legislative building on Broadway. This order-in-council is dated 20 June 1914 and shows the approval of payment in the sum of $62,555 to Messrs. Thomas Kelly and Sons “for work on the new Parliament Buildings.”

Remember, if you’re going to read original documents, it pays to learn how to read cursive writing. This one is not easy to decipher.

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9 June 2014

Road Work Season

Road construction is nothing new in Manitoba. Photographer L.B. Foote documented this work back in 1914. Hopefully the family in this photo wasn’t waiting for the road work to be completed before continuing on their way. A reproduction of this image is just one of the records featured in our current exhibit about life in Manitoba during the early 1900s, At Home: Winnipeg, 1914-1915.

A family posing with their car in front of a construction crew and a dragline excavator used for road construction, 1914. Archives of Manitoba, L.B. Foote fonds, Foote 207

Visit the Archives of Manitoba during regular hours to explore the exhibit on your own or come to one of our free public tours. The next tour is June 18th. Hope to see you then!

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2 June 2014

HBC’s Winnipeg Store in 1914

Did you know that at the start of the First World War, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s one Winnipeg store was at York Avenue and Main Street? The building was multipurpose – with retail at the front on the main floor. The back and upper floors were used as offices and storage for furs and other merchandise.